Curiosity and Project Management

I was part of a team meeting working to resolve an issue. Two teams were focused on their position regarding the issue. The team with the technical expertise was clear that what was being asked should not be implemented. The other team required the technical team to implement the change for their portion of the project to progress. It was a good choice vs bad choice, right choice vs wrong choice conversation. Both sides were clear about their position and we were not moving forward. When faced with this type of dilemma, maintaining a curious mindset becomes important. Being able to ask probing questions to move teams away from positions and beginning to look for potential solutions requires that both teams begin to focus on the outcomes and move away from their respective positions.

To move most issues forward rather than staying locked in circular conversations, back and forth dialogue, or other time-wasting meeting discussions, framing the end goal and gaining alignment by the people involved is required. Documenting what the end goal and the associated drivers of success will allow the teams involved to focus together on a single topic rather than continue to hold their positions. If the teams are moving toward different end goals agreement is unlikely. The first step is creating the end goal and the drivers. The end goal could be to complete testing with the primary drivers being maintaining a short timeline and keeping the cost low. Once that information has been established and everyone involved is aligned, the teams are able to move forward. I am using the term alignment versus agreement. It is an important distinction. When seeking agreement, there is room for disagreement. Disagreement means that something small can stand in the way. Alignment suggests I may not agree, and I can move forward with the chosen direction because I can align my behavior to that goal. If I cannot align, then a change must be made to move forward. Agreement is a 100% and can cause an all or nothing barrier. Alignment allows for wiggle room.

Once aligned on the goal and the associated drivers, the teams can begin to bring forward the ideas to move forward toward the goal. Brainstorming is an ideal way to create as many possibilities as possible. Brainstorming requires that everyone involved sustains their judgement. No idea is skipped or shot down. All ideas are welcome, expanding ideas is a thrill, and all are kept while brainstorming. Once there is a laundry list of possibilities they can be discussed, combined, removed, and cleansed until there is a smaller subset of possibilities. That subset of possibilities is then ranked so that there is an order in which everyone aligns that they are further analyzed. Again, alignment matters as there will always be disagreement amongst the teams as to what should be tackled first. Most of the time, the teams can align on an order.

The Next step is to analyze the ideas, gathering data points for the primary drivers, in this case time and cost. Once the data is available the viable and most likely candidates are available. Since the teams came up with the ideas together, there is generally a stronger team bond, all parties are aligned on how to move forward, and the issues has an identified resolution. These steps can be applied to almost any situation where there is conflict, positions, and polarized teams. The primary ingredient that the project manager brings to the meeting is curiosity. Staying away from solutioning and allowing the teams to work together while asking the probing questions is the most valuable tool a project manager can learn. Being able to draw out the ideas of others, focused on a common understanding of the issue, the goal, and the primary drivers will bring issues to a close as quickly as possible. Practicing these tools in our every day lives will allow us to sharpen our project management skill sets. Project management skills are applicable every where in life. What are you practicing today?